Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage

Chrysosplenium oppositifolium

This plant uses a 'splash-cup' mechanism: when a raindrop hits the cup-shaped fruit, the kinetic energy flings the tiny seeds up to one meter away.

Scientific name: Chrysosplenium oppositifolium
Taxonomy: Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Saxifragales › Saxifragaceae › Chrysosplenium
IUCN Red List status: Least Concern
Population trend: stable
Biome: wetland
Habitat: Wet, shady places, woodland flushes, spring-heads, and rocky stream banks.
Diet: Autotrophic (photosynthesis, absorbing water and nutrients from wet, acidic to neutral soils).
Range: United Kingdom, Ireland, Western Europe, Central Europe
Size: 5 to 15 cm tall, forming creeping mats up to 50 cm wide.
Lifespan: Perennial (individual mats can persist for decades through vegetative cloning).
Active: diurnal
Threats: Water pollution, drainage of wet woodlands, canalization of streams, and climate-induced drought.
Safe to approach?: Harmless. You can safely observe and touch this plant. Because it grows in fragile, waterlogged areas like stream margins, take care not to trample the surrounding soil and damage the habitat.

Photo: Shawn O'Donnell, CC-BY, via iNaturalist